Halo: ODST
by Chris000
Summary: A novelization of the new Xbox game starring a squad of Helljumpers! PLEASE NOTE: Here be spoliers. Do not read if you do not wish the story to be ruined
1. Chapter 1: Prepare to Drop

Halo: ODST

Chris000

Chapter 0: Prepare to Drop

October 23rd, 2552, 1600 hours (Military Calendar)

UNSC _Say My Name _(CC-813)

Low Earth Orbit

Normally the crew of the _Say My Name_ would have been relieved to be going back to Earth. Normally it was a Navy tradition to send a ship back to the Core Worlds on shakedown runs to get the crew comfortable, and ready to get back to the boarders fighting the Covenant. Today was a little different. It was true that the _Say My Name_ was heading back to Earth, but there was one little issue:

The Covenant had found it.

Their homeworld was under attack.

The crew had heard about the one-sided battle that took place just three days before where a fleet of just _sixteen _Covenant starships managed to breach the Lunar perimeter, slip past their orbital MAC stations (and take some out to boot), then proceed to set up shop on Earth, just one city on Earth to be precise.

Their job wasn't to assault it, oh no. That would be suicide. Assault Carriers were five kilometers in length. Anything short of three _carriers_ would be completely and utterly crazy. So why bother staying in this fight? _Say My Name_ was doing taxi service today.

Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. ODSTs. Tough as nails and twice as crazy. An all-volunteer service so they said. They were a special squad commissioned by Naval Intelligence itself. One ballsy Captain CODENAME: Dare approached the Admiral who commanded the _SMN_ and used every dirty ONI trick in the book and showed him a very interesting photo document of what exactly the Covenant was doing on Earth.

He commissioned the squad immediately afterwards

"Jesus, Navy's putting up a real good fight, huh?" said Private First Class Michael "Mickey" Crespo. He was standing over a holographic table which showed the African Mega-City New Mombasa. The colossal Orbital Elevator sitting on an island close-by. Next to said elevator was a massive bulbous shaped spaceship five kilometers in length; the Covenant ship.

Corporal Taylor Miles a.k.a. "Dutch" scoffed and said to the young Marine, "Of course they did, this is Earth!"

"Well, better late than never. It's about damn time Navy stepped up their game." Lance Corporal Kojo Agu said folding his arms and scrutinizing the carrier. Miles snarled and said, "Hey, you mind showing some respect, Romeo? This isn't really the time to be bitching."

Agu smiled slightly and shook his head. "Just saying Dutch, it looks like they missed one, and take it from me, Kinda hard to miss something that big."

Mickey shot, "Yeah, you would know, Romeo."

Dutch broke it up. "They didn't miss it fellas, they left it just for us."

"Ooh, do I feel special now, Dutch."

The alarms activated and an orange light bathed the drop bay. This meant that their mission was confirmed and they were ready to roll.

The pressure door slid open at the far end of the briefing room. In walked their commanding officer, one Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck. It was the first time these group had gone on a real mission with Buck. They hated to admit it, but they were what the UNSC called "replacements". It was no secret that Humanity was losing the war and now the Covies were knocking right on the door.

The second person was a woman that they had never seen before. She appeared to be in her late thirties and wore a COM headset. She was very attractive though. "Wow. Who is _that_?" Agu asked standing rigid.

"Looks important." Miles whispered.

"Oh she's a tight-ass. I can tell by the way she walks." Romeo said grinning.

"Hold up, you can tell how stuck up a person is by the way she walks?" Mickey asked with a curious tilt of his head.

"Oh yeah. Ten bucks says she's Navy."

Miles was not amused. "You're an animal, Romeo." He said to which Kojo gave a growl.

Buck faced his men. "You know the music. It's time to dance, gentlemen!"

The woman walked past the troopers.

"Hello beautiful." Romeo couldn't help himself. The woman stared at him reproachfully.

Buck angrily said, "Pods. NOW."

The ODSTs began to get ready for their drop. Routine stuff, free-falling from around a hundred miles off the ground in their padded Single Occupant, Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicles and crashing into the ground to kick ass.

Captain Veronica "Dare" looked at the men with curiosity. Truth be told, they seemed like run of the mill ODSTs.

"Replacements?" she asked Edward.

Buck shrugged, not avoiding the answer. "Hell, this many years in the war…who isn't? I must have lost hundreds of men, especially on Reach."

Dare then said, "At least they listen; sure some seem like…interesting people but they know how to hear things."

"They listen to me. They know that I tell them what they need to hear. Right now, I don't think they're going to like what they want to hear."

"Orders are orders." Dare admitted

"Come on, Veronica. What could be more important than that carrier-"

"My _orders_." She walked towards the pods. "And Buck…call me _Captain_. I'll pass on that dance, but you can show me where to sit."

Dare passed the ODSTs who watched her as if the air went icy in her wake.

"What the hell sort of armor was she wearing?" Crespo asked. "That ain't standard issue, I know it."

"Dunno, Mickey. I'll tell you one thing though; I wasn't looking at her gear." Romeo walked to the weapons rack where Dutch selected an M7 Submachine gun. He clipped on a suppressor and attached a 2x reflex sight. "Seriously?" he asked laughing.

Dutch didn't flinch. "I admire my choice of weaponry. We're gonna be in close quarters you know."

"Exactly." Romeo grabbed an M90 shotgun and racked the pump.

Buck said, "Second to last, right next to mine." Veronica nodded and altered her course.

"Ooh, cozy." Agu said leaning on the weapons rack. "You gonna tell us her name, gunny?"

"_Miss_ Naval Intelligence." Buck said through gritted teeth. "And our new boss. So check your mouths, find your chairs…" grabbed Romeo's shotgun and slammed a SRS99D into his hands "…and get SET for a combat drop! We Clear?"

"Yes sir." They all said.

As Edward walked away, they were left in silence, until Romeo took a few seconds to look at his new weapons.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this _inside_ a Covenant ship?" He shook his head and walked towards the drop pods. Inside one of them was a sleeping ODST. "Hey Mickey, check this out."

"The Rookie' as the squad called their newest member was a survivor of Cygnus. The only one of his platoon to survive the Covenant ambush. When the UNSC found him, he was just hours away from starving to death. When he joined Buck's squad, he went under this new nickname as he was still fairly new to the ODST way of life.

At present, he was enjoying a quick nap in his drop pod, a quick nap that is, until he was struck very hard in the head by a sniper rifle. "Augh! Damn it!" He exclaimed as he rubbed his helmeted head.

"Rise and shine, buttercup!" said Romeo.

'Not nice, Romeo. Beat it. For God's sake, can't you be serious once in your pathetic life?" Taylor said.

"Not my fault if sunshine here decided to take 40 winks." He walked away to his pod.

Dutch looked at The Rookie warmly.

"He's a dick."

"Relax Rookie, he don't mean nothing. Besides, now's one of those times, it pays to be the strong silent type." He handed the young man a silenced M7 which was modified for urban combat.

"Thanks a lot Dutch." He said sliding it into an in-pod weapons rack.

"You can thank me by letting me take the first ten kills, rookie!"

The Rookie smiled as he saw the top of his hatch close. There was an airtight _hiss_ and he knew that he was ready to go. His pod was taxied out of the edge of the _Say My Name_. He saw Earth as it was below him. On his screens he saw both Buck on the left and Dare on the right. They were conversing with each other.

"_Latest intel reports that Covenant troops are massing beneath the carrier. Not gonna find out anything way up here_." Dare reported, her strange helmet visor taking up a large portion of the screen.

Buck nodded, polarizing his visor. "_Troopers, we are green and very, _very _mean!_"

This was the signal. He heard small blips. He knew what was coming. _Three, two, one, go_.

He felt his stomach come up his throat as the pod rocketed away from the cruiser. He heard Dutch yell "_Yeehaw!_" As his pod rocketed past. James saw a broken UNSC frigate floating in the low atmosphere, venting grey-white plumes of air and coolant.

"_I take it back; Navy got its butt kicked_!" Romeo said slyly.

Buck said to Agu, "_Hey, Romeo, remember when I told you to shut your mouth?_"

"_Yeah?_"

"_Well consider it a standing order_." He said to Veronica, "_We're about to clear the cloud layer, Captain_."

"_Stand by to adjust trajectory on my mark_." Dare said, but it was more of a passive thing, as if they wouldn't notice it.

"_What did she say_?" Dutch asked

"_Mark!_"

At once, the pods tilted. The Rookie didn't know what was going on, but one thing was for certain: they were not headed for that ship.

"_We're way off course!_" Mickey said frantically.

Veronica on the other hand evenly said, "_We're heading right where I need to go_."

For some strange reason, the Rookie had a sudden feeling of suspicion. _Where is that? Oh something is definitely not right here_.

Mickey also noticed something strange here. "_But we're going to _miss_ the carrier_."

Dutch shockingly said, "Radiation!"

"_Holy_ shit!" Agu said said. "_This is like 50 times Hiroshima_!"

"_Did the Covenant set off a nuke_?" Crespo asked

Veronica's voice went frantic "_No! It's the carrier! It's going to jump!_"

Just out of the corner of his eye, the Rookie could have sworn he saw a frigate pass right next to it.

"_It's a slipspace rupture!_ _We need to…!_"

Suddenly the world went blue-white. they knew this as the color of plasma. The carrier disappeared and in its place was an expanding bubble caused by the in-atmosphere jump. The bubble consumed the city and engulfed the space elevator. The wave reached them and slammed Crespo's pod into his. A large crack appeared on his viewscreen and caused him to spin out of control.

"Mayday! Mayday! I'm losing control! I am in a spiral!" the Newbie tried to say.

Dutch reported his own problems. "_EMP. Losing power!_"

"_OK troopers, this is it! Stabilize and pop your chutes now! We're going in hard gentlemen_!"

The COM went dead. The Rookie held on for dear life as the world spiraled around him. He heard stories of Helljumpers who couldn't decelerate quickly enough and suffered the fate of 'digging your own grave', dying on impact. He prayed that this wouldn't happen and tried to find a way to save himself from such a fate, but the high G-forces made him pass out.

After all, he was probably dead anyway.


	2. Chapter 2: Mbaraki

Chapter 2: Mbaraki

October 22nd, 2552, 2000 hours (Military Calendar)

Mbaraki District, New Mombasa

6 hours after drop…

The Rookie slowly regained consciousness. His head was spinning like a top. I truth he didn't really figure out that he was alive yet until he felt a very strong twinge of pain in his lower back. Pain was good. It let him know that he was still standing. He had a brief flashback of ODST training where his Sergeant kept on yelling at the troops,

"_Pain means that you miserable lumps still have the balls in you to fight! Pain is your debt to life! Work it off, Troopers!_"

He embraced the pain and used it to get back into his situation. The sky was dark outside. This meant that it must have been some hours ever since his drop from the _Say My Name_, and a light shower had just started. The Rookie could hear the pitter patter of the droplets against his shattered SOEIV's canopy.

First he needed to get his bearings on where in the hell he was.

"Status." He coughed. His throat was a little dry and it caused him to have a hoarse tone.

"_Single Occupant Exoatmospheric Insertion Vehicle at 25% operational capacity. __**Warning!**__ Emergency Jump Jets disabled. __**Warning!**__ Emergency Sensors offline. __**Warning! **__Pod Hatch Ejection Actuators are offline._"

Oh that was _just_ what he needed right now. He was stuck in the middle of New Mombasa, unsure of what the hell was going on, and he couldn't even get the damn pod's doors open.

Wait. There were the emergency explosive bolts designed just for this occasion. Usually when the actuators of the pods blew out, ODSTs could self-detonate the bolts in the doors, allowing it to spring forward. It served a dual purpose to act as a metal projectile to kill any enemies stupid enough to stand in front of the pod. A large metal plate hurling at over a hundred miles an hour wasn't something you just shrugged off.

The Rookie armed the charges. He slammed his fist into each one so that the triggers glowed green.

"_**Warning! **__Explosive bolts armed. Detonating in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0_."

There was a loud bang and the hatch of the Rookie's SOEIV flew away from him. It also fell about fifty feet before slamming into the roof of a police vehicle.

"Oh boy..." the Rookie said as he cautiously peered over his pod door. He weighed the odds. This pod coming down wouldn't be taken lightly by enemy forces. He would have to move.

On the other hand, it had been quite a while since he dropped. If the Covenant had been looking for his pod, they would have found it by now. Again he countered that if he stayed, it would be easier to wait for his squad, and then he though-

"Oh screw it." He said leaping over the edge.

He free fell for about a second or two, landing on the hard concrete floor. He exhaled sharply as he heard a bone crack. It was true ODST combat suits were protective, but they were nowhere near as efficient or powerful as the MJOLNIR armor that those SPARTANS wore.

The rookie bit his tongue to stop a loud scream of pain coming through. He looked up and down the street carefully looking for Covenant or even a Kig-Yar sniper, and then he ran for it, pistol drawn.

_What the hell am I going to do…?_

"_Need medical attention? Optican Medical Kits provide top-dollar medical attention for less cost, or your money back!_"

This caught the Rookie by surprise. He jumped and accidently put pressure in his wounded leg. "Augh! God _DAMN_ it!"

"_Please visit a nearby Optican Dispenser for immediate medical treatment_." A computerized voice said.

The Rookie was in too much pain to argue. He limped across the street where he saw one of the medical stations with a waiting medpack. He grabbed it.

"_We value your patronage sir or madam_." The voice said again. It seemed to be coming from the machine.

The Rookie laughed and sat next to the Optican machine. He unclipped his shin-guard and rolled up his pant leg. It appeared that the fall jammed his fibula against his femur and patella. He dove into the pack and found a small canister of gel-like substance labeled 'Medigel™' He rubbed some on his kneecap and found a moldable brace in the pack as well. After applying some heat through rubbing, he wrapped the brace around his leg, but not before painfully readjusting it into its proper position.

"Feels good." He said rolling down the pant leg and clipping on the pads. "Where am I?"

"_Location…New Mombasa…Kenya_."

"No, I mean, where am I? In this _city_?"

"_Location…Mbaraki District, New Mombasa_."

The Rookie felt a little annoyed. "Anything more specific?"

The Machine just responded in the same monotone voice as it did previously, not showing any sign of emotion, signifying that it was a "dumb" AI, although he did feel the computer was getting peeved.

"_Tourists new to the city are advised to obtain a map from a New Mombasa Information Terminal_."

Suddenly, a waypoint appeared in his Heads Up Display. It showed that there was an item of interest some distance away from him. He nodded slightly and rose to his feet, feeling quite good.

_This civvie stuff sure does the trick!_ He thought to himself. He started towards the waypoint.

"_Please keep left, Obstruction prevents transit at this time_." The same computer voice said at this time.

The Rookie came to the fork in the road and saw what exactly the 'obstruction' was: a crashed Type-52 Troop Carrier (a.k.a. a Phantom) blocked the entire road with purple plasma/fire spewing out of any crack that was on the damaged Covenant ship.

A yellow warning sign activated above the Rookie's position.

"_Please Keep Left_."

"Alright, I'm going. Don't get pushy!"

The Rookie jogged a bit up an inclined road and made it to a small square. He did a quick glance down the street with his M7S carefully gripped. Satisfied that there was nobody out there, he jogged to the safety of a covered square.

It was dark here. He activated his VISR, the Virtual Intelligence System, Reconnaissance which effectively gave him night vision capabilities. Also, he noticed that a terminal was outlined in yellow. Yellow was usually the code-color used to describe mission-critical objectives.

Did this AI just jack into his suit's systems and repurpose them?

This was one crafty city.

The Rookie made his way towards the yellow data terminal. He did occasionally look over his shoulder. He was jumpy. It was Cygnus that did this to him, that was it. Ever since that day, he had become much more cautious, much more aware of his situations. In many cases this helped him. Other times (which was most of the time); he was just plain freaked out by it.

He tapped the **ENTER** key on the terminal. At once, a circle with eyes appeared on the screen. He had to assume that this was the AI, or as it said on the screen, the _Superintendant_.

"_Greetings! New Mombasa Information Terminal online!_"

"I'm here. Let's do this."

Within a second, there was a green light from the terminal.

"_Thank you for accessing! Please enjoy your stay in New Mombasa_."

"Right." The Rookie said walking away.

He activated his TACMAP, which now displayed the whole city of New Mombasa. Needless to say, it was kind of hard to see at first, until he zoomed in on his position. Then something caught his attention.

Laying some couple hundred meters away, he saw a blip, an ODST drop pod to be precise! And the best thing was it was Captain Dare's!

This seemed the best course of action. If Captain Dare was there, she could help him find out where any of the other ODSTs were in the city. If she was dead, oh well…better to confirm than to ignore.

"Attention to any UNSC or Civilian forces in the area, this is Lance Corporal-"

The humming of a gravity drive cut his transmission short. He made a beeline for some cover and looked skyward. The one thing that could make his day worse just showed up. A fully _functioning_ Type-52 Troop Carrier was bearing right above his position; a powerful searchlight on its nose combed the buildings.

So they _were_ looking for any human survivors. The Rookie breathed a sigh of relief. If he had stayed in the pod for a few minutes longer, he would have been shot by now, or worse…taken prisoner.

The Phantom went low to the ground. Out of its troop bay came a squad of Unngoy, five in all, led by a Jiralhanae Captain. The Rookie gulped, and then thought. Perhaps the night could work to his advantage. Sneaking past was _not_ an option so different measures would need to be taken. He holstered his M7 and drew his suppressed M6C pistol. He found a tuft of tall grass near a palm tree and took aim using his smart-link scope.

He targeted the Grunts first, compensating for their waddling movement. The Rookie exhaled and pulled the trigger three times.

The pistol puffed thrice and three grunts fell dead from headshots, all within a second. Before the others could do anything, the back two grunts were dead. The Rookie managed to clip one of their methane packs and sent it into a swirling pattern on the ground.

Enraged, the Brute Captain pulled out a red Type-25 Directed Energy Rifle. The Rookie held his breath and ducked low in the tall grass. The Captain urgently began looking around the square barking out curses. When the beast came close to him, the Rookie crept behind him and stabbed his combat knife into the back of the Brute's skull. The creature roared at first but then collapsed.

The Rookie pulled the knife out of the Captain's head with a wet _shnk_ and he wiped it on his sleeve. Satisfied, he placed the knife back in his sheath and crept up the road.

The place he needed to get to was located behind a building. The Superintendant had sealed the doors leading anywhere else here so he assumed that it wanted him to see something. A door leading into a hallway suddenly opened.

"_Please proceed with caution_."

The Rookie walked in the doorway and down a hall. Lacking a Motion Tracker those fancy-ass SPARTANS had, he had to rely on his own two eyes. A few dead Marines were lying on the ground, suggesting that a small battle took place. He confirmed this with accompanying Covenant corpses, purple and blue blood spattering the walls.

He got even higher until he got to a room with windows. They were overlooking what was Tayari Plaza, according to the map anyway. In the very center of the plaza was a crashed SOEIV pod, and several Covenant corpses around it. He didn't see any ODST armor down there so either the occupant survived the crash or someone else came along and took them.

The Rookie kept searching for clues in this building. After a few minutes, he saw a broken wall-mounted screen. Usually a screen like this wouldn't have been of much importance to the Rookie.

But then again, how many wall-mounted screens had a helmet wedged in them? He stepped closer and grabbed the helmet. Using both hand, he pried it from the screen. It came away after a good tug and the gash in the screen spat sparks. Looking at it, he saw a huge crack down the center and spray painted above the weird visor, he saw the name: **DARE**

So this was Captain Dare's helmet. Did she make it out of there alive? Did someone come to look for her, or did the Covenant capture her. More importantly, how the _hell_ did the helmet get up here, wedged in this computer screen no less?

The Rookie looked at the helmet and ran his finger through the large crack. What _did_ happen here?


	3. Chapter 3: Tayari Plaza

Chapter 3: Tayari Plaza

October 23rd, 2552, 1410 hours (Military Calendar)

New Mombasa, Kenya

3 kilometers from Tayari Plaza

Immediately after drop…

The EMP wave generated by that Assault Carrier was intense. A solid wave of electromagnetic particles and wind buffeted the ODSTs and scattered the SOEIVs like they were bugs. Buck and Dare managed to stay together, despite the amount of sudden turbulence.

"Veronica, I can't hold her much longer!" Buck said gritting his teeth, fighting the spinning.

"_Just hang on a little while longerBuck, we're getting close to the landing site!_"

"It's not going to work! I can't hold her! WHOA!"

The pod slammed into an office building. Edward's SOEIV managed to survive the impact and was flung right off of it. Unfortunately, he also slammed into the Captain's as well. He flipped over and over again until slamming into a wall.

Buck managed to keep consciousness as he looked around his pod. He felt as if he was upside down.

He was.

It wasn't the most honorable landing for an ODST, but he couldn't do anything about it. If he tried to activate the jump jets, it would work like a trash compactor, crumpling his tiny SOEIV. He coughed and looked for the hatch controls

"_Squad, what's your status? Did anyone get clear of that Slipspace rupture? Damn…You still with me Buck?_"

"Yeah, just give me a second. I had a bit of a rough landing."

"_I think I hit something hard. My pod's hatch won't open and I am bingo on fuel. No emergency jumps for me, I think I'm too wedged in._"

There was slight silence for a second.

"_How about yours_?"

Buck found the controls and opened the hatch. His seat belt had ripped away on impact so he tumbled to the floor. Buck looked into the sky, which was unnaturally blue, with sapphire particles that drifted through the air.

_Snow? Can't be. It must have been from the sudden rupture_.

In truth the city was less of a mess than Edward expected. In truth the lower levels were barely even touched. The trashbags were undisturbed, a few cars were spotless, and even a small family of Macaw parrots cawwed excitedly in one of the palm trees.

Buck took off his helmet and rubbed his head. "Works great." he said with a small sarchastic bite.

"_Well, when you're done fooling around, I can use some help. I'm not exactly fighting-mobile here, Buck_."

Buck frowned angrilly. The last thing that he needed right now was for Dare to chew him out for something that wasn't even his fault. Landing upside-down in his pod was questionable though. Edward was a hardened ODST, he knew better than to fall for a rookie mistake, something that most recruits only have to screw up once...

"Did I do something wrong, because the only thing that I regret about you and me is not knowing that you were a Spook when I first met you." He grinned to himself. "I would have been a lot less charming with dinner and all _that_, you know?"

Dare didn't seem to be fazed by Edward's riminescence.

"_That's the thing that I miss the most about you, Buck: when your mouth was a little faster than your brain._"

She then gave a small sigh, as if she was holding something back.

"_Look, don't start about my job. You know that it's not exactly an _open_ subject_. _We both agreed to end it_."

Buck noticed that his assault rifle was stuck in its wall brace in the SOEIV. He grabbed the foregrip and the pistol grip. He gave it a good tug but the weapon was still stuck. He cracked his knuckles and grabbed the gun again.

"That was _years_ ago, Veronica!" He grunted pulling with all his might. "I'm a little _fuzzy_ on the _details_!"

The assault rifle came loose and Buck tumbled with it to the ground. He smacked his unarmored head off the concrete flooring. He got back up.

"There must have been _hundreds_ of other unfortunate saps in the Outfit. Why did you choose me for this safari?" Buck chuckled as he realized he was in Africa.

"_First of all, you're the best soldier I know. I will admit that. Secondly,_"

There was static

"_if you don't remember that night,_"

Static

"_what you said to me in the morning_?"

Buck remembered that night. It was one of the best days of his life. That night...he had a few drinks and it was a blur in his memory. He remembered dancing, a wonderful dinner, and later on...well, let's just say that he felt peppy in the morning. He remembered looking upon her, she was still sleeping. Edward brushed aside her blonde hair. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled.

His thoughts were interrupted by a Phantom that was slowly hovering above the building.

"I remember not getting an answer." 

"_Say again Buck? You're breaking up_!"

_Sure._

"I said I'll be right there!"

Buck grabbed his MA5C's charging lever and pulled it back hard. The digital ammunition counter displayed there was a full 32 round magazine inserted. Buck was more fond of the C model of assault rifles. True, the B model gave you more bang for your buck with the 60 round mag, but it was if someone sanded away the rifling in the barrel.

He grabbed a few more magazines from the pod and started down the road. The street was deserted. Edward not once saw a civilian...or a civilian corpse for that matter

"_We missed our intended LZ. There are Covenant troops all over this grid_." Dare said coming in over the COM. "_Be careful_."

"Thanks for the concern." Buck said.

"_Well it can't be much of a resucue if you're dead, now is it_?"

"Oh, so now you're coming in clear!"

There was a few seconds silence, the Dare's annoyed voice came back. "_Just step on it, Buck_."

Edward went a few hundred more feet until he came to a corner. There were a few smoking cars riddled with spike-like projectiles and plasma burns. Buck knew this when he saw it, _Brutes_ or _Jiralhanae_ as they were known. Buck heard stories of Harvest where ape-like creatures could just rip men apart. In 2531, he was part of the force that went to take Harvest back. He saw them and then killed them.

He was about to go down the open street when he heard a voice from behind him.

"Trooper! Over here!"

Buck whirled around and saw a few Marines huddled behind a destroyed Warthog LRV.

"Man, we saw your pod come down and deflect off that other one. You are one lucky son of a bitch, you know that, huh?"

"I got lucky." Buck admitted. "Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck. Who's in charge here?"

The Marines looked at each other. "Um...that's you sir." one of them said. "Lieutenant was reduced to ground beed by those spikers."

Buck cursed.

"Did you see anybody else come down after me?"

"Nah, negative! I couldn't see a damn thing after the flash."

Double damn. The city went to hell in a handbasker mere minutes after the slipspace rupture.

"OK, Marines on me. We need to find my CO."

"_Yes sir_!" They said and followed in step. One of the Marines said,

"Sir, you know, some of these buildings are open on the ground floor. You could use them to your advantage, flank the Covenant."

Buck looked skyward. A few stories above him, there were some walkways which connected some buildings to others. Using his VISR, he spotted some Jiralhanae lumbering down the street, shooting some Marines who had the misfortune of getting in their way.

"Thanks a lot." Buck said. "Come with me, and wait for me to drop a NAV point.

The soldiers nodded and stayed behind Buck, trying to stay in the shadows. The last thing these men needed was to be spotted by the Covenant, then Veronica would die for sure.

The hallway was dark and narrow. Buck switched to his M7S. The close quarters plus the Armor Piercing rounds woud be excellent against the shieded Brutes and even the Kig-Yar lackeys who his behind their shields. A 48 round magazine seemed sufficient to take a Brute down, that and a healthy smack to the head.

Buck rounded a corner and saw something that disturbed him. Lying on the floor was the boodied corpse of a Sangheili warrior, also colloquially known as Elites to the UNSC. Buck looked at the corpses. While the wounds were caused by projectiles, what struck the ODST odd was that they were caused by Spike Rifes, the weapon of choice by the Jiralhanae. Maybe some Marines got lucky taking them down, or maybe something very strange had just happened...no, it couldn't have happened like that.

"What happened here?" Buck asked out loud.

"_Final Notice, Bills past due_." One of the computers droned.

Buck whirled his head around, but figured that it was gibberish.

"Whoa. Yeah, this wasn't the first time we've seen dead Elites around here." The Australian Marine gave it a good kick in the mandibles. "Rotten git. I want to shake the hand of the bloke who ended these guys."

Buck yanked one of the spikes from the corpse. The purple blood started to dry already. "Well, whatever happened, it wasn't too long ago. Come on, Marines."

They emerged in the afternoon light and crept across the bridge. "Marines, take up positions here and here." Buck said marking two locations on his TACMAP.

"Roger." The Australian Marine said.

Buck and his allies took cover for a minute, and then Buck fired a bait shot at an Unggoy. Before the dog-like alien hit the ground, he had already retreated behind an outcropping. Using his TACMAP, he watched as the Brute Minor lumbered right in front of them.

"MARINES, HIT 'EM NOW!"

The Humans unloaded a hail of 7.62x51mm Full Metal Jacket rounds on the approaching patrol. Buck armed a grenade and tossed it down there. He counted to three and heard a _thump_ from behind his cover. He poked his head out and saw that all that was left of the aliens was a strange mixing paste of blood. If Dutch were here, he would have called it 'art'.

"_No targets visible, sir_." one of the Marines said over the COM. Just when he poked his head out of cover, a violet-white beam of energy went through his head, causing him to fall off the platform to his death thirty feet below.

"_Jackal Sniper!_" the Australian said. "_Hit that bugger, sir_!"

Buck carefully went into cover and activated his 5x zoom on his helmet. Scanning ideal hiding spots; broken windows, rooftops, piping, and even bushes, he looked for the assailant. Ne noticed that the beam intercepted the Marine at roughly thirty degrees from the soldier's Northwest. He scanned that direction while trying to remain hidden.

"Gotcha" Buck said happily.

The Kig-Yar in question was hiding on the top floor of a bus station. Thank God the creature wasn't looking at him right now. Judging from the angle, the sniper appeared to be fixating on the surviving Marines.

"Lance Corporal. Show yourself for a split-second, just hold your hand out to the right."

"_What_?!"

"Just trust me. You'll be fine."

The Marine did as he was told and sprung his arm out for half a second. Buck's gambit worked. The Jackal looked straight at the arm and did one better, he fired off a shot that missed the Marine. Buck then switched to his assault rifle and sent a three-round burst into the Jackal's head. The alien teetered and fell off the bust station's roof, crashing into a parked car below it's position. The burgler alarm went off unfortunately and the annoying klaxon spread all the way down the street. The frightened Marines rejoined Buck.

"You OK, guys?" he asked warmly.

"Yeah. Thanks." The Lance Corporal whom he used as bait said.

"Told you you'd be fine." Edward said clapping the young man on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

The walk should have been uneventful, but Buck came across more dead Sangheili. He was about to dismiss it when the Australian Marine held up.

"Hey Sergeant, I think you should see this."

Buck walked to where the young man was. It was true that there were Sangheili corpses, but there were also Jiralhanae, and even more odd was that they seemed _opposite_ of each other. A quick check of the bodies had yielded that both the aliens had wounds of the opposite race. The Elites were pegged with Spiker Rounds and the Brutes' flesh was singed with Covenant plasma fire. A quick check of some of the Type-25 Directed Energy Rifles showed that they were low on batteries.

_Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on here_?

"Hey Veronica, what's with all the dead Elites?"

"_What do you mean_?"

_Good, she's not dead, but I'd better not push it_.

"It looks like a family feud, like they were killed by the Brutes. Is there something I should know?"

"_Sorry Buck, that's cassified_."

Buck frowned.

"Some things never change." he thought out loud.

There was a large square down the road. Buck and the surviving Marines kept an eye out for either Brutes or any surviving Elites. They found some. A couple of Brutes were charging a single Sangheili warrior who was squaring off with an energy sword. A full Brute pack shot at him continuously. The Elite's golden armor shimmered in the bright light of his blade. He sliced through two Brutes, decapitated the third, and reduced a fourth to shreds, but it was the fifth, a Chieftan who weilded a Gravity Hammer slammed it into the Zealot, who was propelled into the air and landed nearly fifty feet away, his precious energy sword slipping from his fingers and shutting down from the failsafe.

"What the hell..." One of the Marines started to say, but there was a small rumbling.

A Phantom descended from the sky with its gravity lift active. The Chieftan went up.

"_Buck, location!"_

"I'm almost there!" He hissed.

"_I have mutiple hostiles closing in on my pod! I need support! Listen...if I don't make it, Buck..._"

"I'll be right there!"

"_Too late! They spotted me!_"

"Veronica? Veronica?! Damn it, talk to me! I'm coming! Stay put! _Do you hear me_?!"

"Sir..." The Australian Marine said.

Buck saw what he was talking about. Two Hunters dropped from the Gravity Lift. They were imposing, twelve feet high, covered with spine-like armor, and a huge Fuel Rod Cannon grafted onto their arm, they were the closest thing the Covenant had to living tanks.

"Hunters! Oh, I do NOT have time for this." Buck thought. He knew the only way to take a Mgalekgolo down was to shoot them in special weak spots where the worm-like individual Lekgolo resided. Buck had only taken two pairs down in his lifetime. He felt ready for a third. "Marines, I'm going to be bait. Switch to full auto and when the Hunters turn their backs to you, unload. Copy?"

There was a second before the survivors responded, "Yes sir."

Buck nodded and started running. "OK, wait for my signal."

Edward Buck ran from behind the cars. He sighted his assault rifle on one of the monsters. He pegged one of them in the weak spot around the neck. The Mgalekgolo rumbled in defiance and charged up its Fuel Rod Cannon. The beam of green light blasted a car next to him into the air, crashing to the ground in flames. Once he was sure that the beasts were facing him, Buck called out, "Marines, fire now!"

The farther Hunter however seemed to notice this, and flipped around using his shield as cover against the bullets. Buck watched in horror as the alien shot its weapon into the tall grass where the Marines were hiding. That area burst into flames and the BIOMETER went dead for both those men. He shot the Hunter away from him in the back until his magazine went empty. The beast roared and fell to the ground.

That Hunter's bond brother roared and swiped the car Buck was hiding behind away, with bloodlust in its voice.

"Oh no..." Buck said getting to his feet.

The Mgalekgolo gave a vicious swipe which Buck sidestepped. The shield slammed into the ground and made a large crack. Looking past this, he used this window to reload and fire a few rounds into the unprotected back of the Hunter. To his fright, the beast took its shild and swung it over his head. Buck quickly ran around the hunter. He spotted a few spike grenades on the ground that came from the dead Brutes. He sprinted for one and kept it handy. When the Mgalekgolo came for another swipe, he waited until he saw the orange, and then tossed it there.

Perfect toss.

The Spike Grenade landed on the leathery orange spot and detonated, spraying the insides of the creature with white-hot spikes. It roared in pain as orange blood mixed with eel-like symbiotes, splashed on the ground. It twitched a few times and then died.

Buck couldn't catch his breath though as he need ed to get to Veronica. he could never forgive himself if she died.

He went through the only door that was open and was treated to another comnputer message:

"_Attention travellers, goods can be recovered on...lower level._"

Buck looked over a railing and saw a crashed SOEIV. He realized that whatever this computer was, it was trying to help him.

"Thanks."

"_Thank you for the review of New Mombasa Directory Services_."

Buck skipped down the stairs two at a time. Dare's pod had a few curious Grunts in front of it, firing their plasma pistols into the frame. Buck calmly shot all of them in the head.

He ran for the pod and looked for an outer emergency release. Finding it, he struggled to pull the door off.

"It's alright Veronica. I'm here...I've got you..."

he got the door off only discovering that the pod was empty.

"What...aww nuts!"

Behind him was a floating creature. Buck had never seen anything like this before. It was big, it was floating, and it was wearing some sort of combat armor. It started to shake as it approached him. In one of its tentacles, the creature held Dare's helmet It had a huge crack in it.

"Whoa!" Buck said in surprise.

Suddeny there was a flash of pink-purple blood and the creature fell over to the ground, its skin changing from pink to gray.

Buck looked for who took that shot. On one of the catwalks was another ODST. Even from this distance Buck could tell from the viewfinder that this was Romeo. Kojo gave a friendly wave to Buck who returned it.

Something then got his attention. The thing that Agu just killed started to whine. He knew a plasma charge like that. He took a running leap into the ground and the thing exploded. The helmet that it had was propelled through an open window and stuck into the screen. There was only a few fleshy chunks left of the thing. It was if some giant homemade suicide bomb went off.

When he got back up, Romeo was in front of him.

"What the hell was that thing? Did you ever see something like that before?"

Romeo didn't say anything.

"You have your ears on, Trooper?"

Romeo gave a slight shrug.

"Oh I get it." Buck said remembering the drop. "Permission to speak, wiseass."

Agu then spoke. "No, I don't know what that was."

Buck looked at the pudde of gore.

"Did you have to kill it, Romeo?"

"Just saying gunny; it was going to grease you good, just like it did the Captain.

"Maybe. Did you hear from Dutch or Mickey yet?" Buck asked.

"No. COMs went dead just after the rupture."

"What about Rookie?"

Kojo just shook his head.

Buck looked into the sky. These blue particles still hung in the air. "We need to get above this crap, link up with the B-NET. One of our drones must have seen where they hit in this city."

Romeo slung his SRS99D over his shoulder casually. "So we're going to be popping smoke on the lady's mission? Ballsy of you gunny." He went more serious. "Did she ever tell you what she wanted?"

"No. She never did. That doesn't matter now. The only thing I care about is getting all my men out of the city, even you Romeo."

Kojo chuckled. "I can live with that. Come on gunny. Let's go."

They walked up the stairs and searched for an open door so that they could begin their search.

"Hey Romeo, where did _you_ land?"

"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to hear. You smell that?"

"I just noticed. Is that _you_?"

"Well...I won't spoil it for you, but I will say that it involved a waste disposal center and three months worth of rotten shit."

"Romeo, stand ten feet from me for the rest of this trip."

"Screw you, gunny."


	4. Chapter 4: The Long Walk

Chapter 4: The Long Walk

October 23rd, 2552, 2015 hours (Military Calendar)

New Mombasa, Kenya

Mbaraki District.

Present Time...

The Rookie looked at Dare's helmet. He kept on looking at the strange-looking visor that took up the front of the helmet. He shook his head. What good was _this_ thing as an ODST? Did it serve any purpose or was it invented just to look fancy?

_Jesus, what a useless piece of garbage_.

There was no hope in salvaging this helmet even if he wanted it. He slid his finger once more through the hole and placed the thing on the floor. He took a deep breath and looked one last time over Tayari Plaza and Dare's SOEIV.

_Guess that means she's dead. Not that I care, didn't like her..._

"_Attention! Stuck on a boring weekday? Feeling fresh for an adventure? Visit the Uplift Reserve National Park today! Children ten and under are admitted free!_"

The voice came once more from this city, the Superintendant as it called itself. At first he dismissed it as rambling but when he saw video feeds of a crashed drop pod nestled on the sand of the Mombasa Channel, he was on his feet before he even knew it. He didn't know the way to Uplift Reserve Park but he needed to get there one way or another.

_Hey, if I get lost, the damn city will light my torch!_

The Rookie made his way back down to the atrium of the building he was in. He patiently looked around and then an icon appeared in his Heads Up Display. A beacon approximately a thousand meters away in some sort of square. It would be a long walk but he needed to figure out if someone was there. He checked his magazine and started with a light jog.

The night was beginning to set in. Mbaraki was cast with a dark shadow made by the higher skycrapers. Automated lights began to flick on casting the streets with a bright yellow glow. 'Light my torch' indeed! Cars, plants and corpses shot shadows onto the walls and floors.

_These will make good cover if I need it_.

He suddenly heard what sounded like barking coming over the incline. The Rookie slunk into the shadow made by a bus and waited. The barking grew louder and louder until he spotted two Jiralhanae walking down the street flanked by half a dozen Unggoy.

The Rookie booted up his Covenant Translation Software and waited for some response. The growling resolved itself into English.

"...and you're sure the Demon was within the city?"

"Quite positive. He was with a larger force of Humans looking to take the Hierarch's carrier!"

"Heh, looks like that didn't happen." The senior said giving a humerous huff relishing the destruction around him. "These Human buildings crumbled like sand."

"We did see a Human ship give chase to the holy vessel."

"Did we shoot it down?"

"Maybe. I didn't hear about any wreckage."

"Perhaps it _did _give chase."

"Do not dwell upon it, brother. Such thoughts are an insult to the Forerunners. No ship made by heathens could match ours."

A couple of the Grunts behind the Brutes started to chatter nervously. They were mumbling too quietly for the Rookie to understand what they were saying but the Brutes didn't have this problem.

"Quiet you runts! Be still your jabbering lips or I will rend you limb from limb!"

This made the diminuitive aliens even more nervous and they then glanced from side to side. The Rookie decided he wanted to break their ranks a little. He took aim at the rear guard who had the bright idea to growl at a Marine's corpse.

He pulled the trigger.

A 12.9mm Armor Piercing round spun from the M6S and hit the Grunt in the head from behind. The wall was spattered with blood and brain matter. His companions whirled around at the noise. He nailed another and made the rest nervous.

"Where is it?" The senior Brute said. "Spread out! Find it!"

The Grunts, angered by the slaying of their comrades barked and sprinted from box to car to container looking for the assailant. One made the mistake of coming behind the Rookie's bus. The ODST was startled by the creature and took advantage of the darkness. silently, he grabbed the Grunt's head and snapped it to one side, producing a sick _crack_.

Under the burning flames and cries of birds, the kill was almost completely inaudible.

_Three down, five to go_... The Rookie said to himself.

The aliens continued to patrol the area. He hid himself inside the bus and waited for another alien to notice the body. It was a double header as two Unggoy came. Two squeezes of the pistol and both of them were down.

To his dismay, one of the bullets ricocheted and caused a whining sound. The remaining Unggoy cried out in excitement.

"I found it! _It's over here!_"

It laughed maniacally as it thought of great reward from the Brutes as it was the last man standing.

The Rookie needed an exfil. He needed to find a way out of the bus quickly. The front was not an option as that's where the enemies were coming from. he then decided to go through the back. He unhooked the emergency door. What he also didn't know was that busses had emergency sirens when people went out the back. Nawina, the city he was born in on Luna, didn't have many roads, thus he didn't have as much knowledge on civilian vehicles.

Regardless, he knew exactly what the siren meant: It meant that he now had two bloodthirsty gorillas on one tiny, spunky monkey/dog thing on his ass now. He whirled around to see them glaring at the Human. The Brutes raised their spikers ready to fire when the Grunt armed _two _plasma grenades and was ready for a kamikaze run.

The Rookie saw plenty of this on Cygnus and was prepared for it another time. He plucked his pistol from his leg and instinctively nailed the little runt between the eyes just as it was bellowing a war cry. The grenades flew from its hands and landed on the bus floor. The Jiralhanae roared in defiance and tried to get away.

The grenades detonated in a sky blue fireball of radiation, heat and electrical discharge. The bus was reduced to a burning hulk. The Brutes lay dead in the cabin with flaming fur giving off a stench of burning blood, sweat and the natural smell of the creatures.

The Rookie took a second to catch his breath. He honestly couldn't believe that he survived that one. He sat next to a wall and took in the scene of destruction he inadverdantly caused.

"_Attention, please vacate the road_."

The Rookie looked to a video screen. The Superintendant was there with a wagging finger.

"Give me a second." He said with a couple of breaths.

The ODST got up and walked down the road. The beacon was getting stronger. What he noticed was the distinct lack of people around here.

"Where is everyone?"

"_Evacuation is in effect. Please Remain Calm_."

"You got all of them out?"

The Superintendant wore a smug look.

The Rookie also ran into a few jackals. These were the types who wore the circular energy gauntlets that deflected projectiles. They couldn't deflect grenades though.

He drew a captured Covenant plasma grenade and tapped the activation switch. He heard the whining of the grenade as it warmed. He knew once he let go of the weapon, it would stick to whatever heat source it touched.

It flew from the Rookie's hand and latched onto one of the Kig-Yar's ankles. The alien squaked in surprise and tried to pry the explosive off but it detonated and took out a few comrades. The remaining Jackals broke ranks and fled.

The Rookie hunted them all down. A few he shot in the head, a few he stuck with grenades. One managed to get a lucky shot off at him which put a nice char on his shin-pad. The Rookie retaliated by shooting it in the leg and finishing it off by bashing it seven times in the face with his pistol butt. Each time he struck the Kig-Yar's bird-like image, a bit of thick purple spattered the ground. By the time he was finished, the splatter of blood on the right side of the alien's face was dark blue.

He let the thing hit the ground and slowly continued on.

He finally passed the last bulkhead and came to a circular center. This must be where the beacon came from since the point in his radar was quite close. He took a look around first. It appeared that this was a civic center as appealing statues dotted the perimiter, a festive water fountain was running in a courtyard which strangely made this area calm, and video screens and giant billboards advertised new cars and products.

In the center was a stand with a large cube in it. Normally this would have seemed pretty normal. The thing that piqued the Rookie's interest was an F99 Wombat Aerial Drone. It was wedged between the stand and the off-center cube. Laying a few dozen meters away was an Optics Package from the jet.

"Where's the pod?" The Rookie asked out loud.

"_Location...Uplift Reserve National Park. Status: Off Limits_."

The Rookie mentally kicked himself. He walked all this way just to have the machine tell him that he couldn't get in the Reserve. Just as well. He saw above that the only entrance into the Reserve was smashed by what he assumed was a ring from the Space Elevator.

He angrilly paced the area. He accepted the fact that he wasn't going to get inside and just took a look at the Package. He lifted the device and was amazed at its weight. He looked at the piece of machinery and then to the broken jet.

_I wonder what you've seen today..._


	5. Chapter 5: Uplift Reserve

Chapter 5: Uplift Reserve

October 23rd, 2552, 1630 hours (Military Calendar)

Uplift Reserve Nature Park

New Mombasa, Kenya

30 Minutes After Drop...

[BEGIN SWEEP] S/N 11.23.2552.1630

EXECUTE ACTION

...CAMERA ONLINE.

CHARLIE LANCE: [ONLINE]

CHARLIE 1: [NOMINAL]

CHARLIE 2: [WORKING...NOMINAL]

CHARLIE 3: [NOMINAL]

The F99 Wombat was one of the UNSC's best UAVs; capable of hitting close to two thousand kilometers per hour in atmosphere and nearly five times that in vacuum. They had a large price tag but it was well worth it: integrated "dumb" AI in their matrix, advanced computer algorithms, and able to hold their own in a fight. The UNSC used these as drones to scout the immediete metropolitan area around Mombasa. So far, it was the same thing over and over, damaged buildings, overtuned cars, the like, not to mention the predicted effects of an in-atmospheric slipstream jump.

ONI repurposed the drones. The Assault Carrier that slipped away from the city, it left an LZ behind. This would be a nice fish to catch since if they could get their hands on the Covenant landing zone, they could track the location of other Covenant ships on or around Earth. Charlie Lance was scouting the immediete area. This was Uplift Reserve, the place where the Carrier originally parked.

Corporal Taylor Miles stumbled out of his pod. His landing was nearly perfect. If the sand where he set down hadn't been so soft, he would have rated himself a 10. Presently, he would have given himself a 9.

"Dear Lord, thank You for getting me through another one. I thought I was gonna be a sardine in a can for sure." He took a look at his surroundings, taking everything in.

He appeared to be an a beach of sorts. Across the water, he could see the Old City as the natives called it. Several streaks of Anti-Aircraft fire shot from the ground and attempted to cut down Covenant atmospheric fighters, to little effect as the ships attempted to outmaneouver the heavy rounds.

Three drones flew over Dutch's head. They all streaked towards the city center trailing vapor in their wake.

"Good hunting, boys." Dutch said to the UAVs. He grabbed an M6/Non-Linear Gallelian Laser from his pod and hefted it over his shoulder. He had used the weapon so much that Taylor felt that it was part of him, despite the fact that here on Earth, gravity was greater.

"I'll be keeping my boots on the ground though."

He flipped the safety and placed the warm laser on his shoulder.

It looked like he landed in a zoo or a safari zone. A couple of abandoned jeeps showed that people left in a hurry. He even found a helpful directory which conveniently showed him where he was.

Walking up a worn path in the plants, he wondered where the animals were. He nearly jumped an inch when he saw the corpses of two zebras. He pushed this out of his mind and advanced up the dirt path. The mettalic crackle of human weaponry started to sound over the trees which meant that some Marines had survived the rupture. That was great news. He didn't want to go through this alone.

He reached the tree line and hid behind a shrub. Ahead of him, a small platoon of humans hid behind an overturned M12 LRV jeep. They were taking potshots at a squad of Unggoy headed by a Brute Captain. He didn't want to be seen so he crouched down low. One of the Marine spotted him though.

"Trooper! You mind giving us a hand over here? Help us secure this vehicle!"

Dutch gave a quick glance towards the Covenant forces. He then took a deep breath and sprinted across open ground. He felt a few plasma bolts in his armored legs but didn't stop. When he saw a plasma grenande flying towards him in his peripheral vision, he lept with all his might to the safety of the overturned jeep. The grenade exploded and showered the Marines with dirt.

"Nice jump." One of them said.

"Thanks. What's the situation here, Marines?"

"This entire damn zoo is overrun with Covenant! We're supposed to meet with our CO but...in case you haven't noticed, we're a little bogged down."

Dutch nodded, noting the angry Covenant. "OK, let's get this hog flipped. Grab a part of her hull."

The Marines did as they were told.

"Ready? One...two..._THREE_!"

They all pulled with all their might and used the body of the jeep to absorb some of the plasma fire. They pushed even more until it thudded on all four tires.

"OK, who's gonna man the LAAG?" Dutch asked. He didn't get a response as the Marines looked at Miles collectively. "Alright, you weenies, I'm going, I'm going."

He carefully climbed onto the gun. He thumbed the trigger and set a hail of 12.7x99mm rounds into the Covenant squad. They seemed to fly apart as their bodies absorbed the lead from the gun. Soon, there was nothing left but a few bloody corpses. Dutch smiled behind his helmet. He stepped down from the chain-gun and nodded to the Marines.

"Thanks alot, Trooper. You take the wheel. We need to get this hog moving." The Marine climbed into the gun turret and pulled the charging lever. "Our CO needs us to clear this sector."

Dutch sat in the cockpit and activated the hog. He felt the cylinders pump as it burned the Hydrogen. Back on Mars, Taylor had been a land train driver. He remembered several nights on the open roads with Phobos and Demos in the sky, from Losantiville-his hometown-to New Legaspi, to Argus Christi, and back again.

This was where he belonged, behind a wheel. He slammed the accelerator to the ground and fishtailed around. Dutch spotted two more hogs in a firefight with Covenant forces.

"_Nice of you guys to show up_." A Marine said. "_We could use a hand. You weren't lying around on the job were you, Jules_?"

"_Hell no, sir! An ODST showed up and lent assistance!_"

"_Helljumper? Nice to see you show up_._ OK, let's clear it out! Aw shit...Wraith coming over the hill!_"

"_This just isn't our day..._"

Miles saw the tank coming over the hill. He nervously eyed the mortar that was aimed in his general direction. If they layed even a close shot, the splash damage would knock them end over end...then they would be targets for the tank's gunner.

He pushed this out of his mind. "OK Marines, try to hit that tank from behind. I'm gonna try to flank this bastard."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his passenger make the sign of the cross.

_Don't worry buddy, the Good Father's got something good for us today_

He pulled up close to the Wraith.

"Nail his gunner!"

The Marine, Jules, agreed and sprayed the Jiralhanae manning the plasma turret with armor piercing rounds. He slumped dead over the gun, causing it to fire _into _the tank. While the driver wasn't killed, it got a few holes in the hull.

"Come on, ram me...come on..."

Dutch got his wish. He saw the tank speed up. Just when it was about to hit him, he pulled the handbrake and swerved clear.

"_HIT IT NOW!_"

Jules unloaded into the tank's rear. His rounds sliced into it and soon, it belched purple-white fire. The Wraith exploded, showering the hill with hundreds of purple hull plates. The Marines gave a victory cheer as they mopped up the rest of the Covenant.

"_Not bad Trooper_." one of the other Marines said over the COM.

"Not yet!" Dutch yelled looking skyward. "Phantom, high!"

"_I see it. All hogs, engage target! Aim for its guns, Marines!_"

Fire streaked from the other warthogs' chain-guns. The Type-52 dropship answered by shooting back its own plasma.

"Just a little more..."

The forward turret exploded. The Grunt side-gunners angrilly tried to nail the Marines but they were too fast. The Phantom dropped its load of two squads and fled, bleeding plasma from its broken turret.

"That's right! RUN!" He turned sharply to run over a couple Grunts, spraying the windshield with blue blood. Dutch felt a burning in his arm. He realized that one of the aliens managed to hit him with some plasma. While it didn't physically make contact with his skin, it superheated the armor. He needed to get something on that or he'd get scalded. He introduced the Unggoy to his axel and then unwrapped his forearm guard and tossed it to his feet, allowing his burned wrist to get some air.

"That's the last of them!" Jules said. "Colonel! Sector's clear and we found some backup!"

There was some slight static over the COM as an older-sounding man came on.

"_Say again, Marine. I've got drones overhead and ONI brass yellin' in my ear_!"

"Sir, ODST reporting for duty, sir!" Dutch announced.

"_Nice of you to drop in Trooper! Head to the next part of the park; link up with my Second Platoon. They're taking heavy casualties and could use immediete assistance, son_."

"Roger that! I'm Oscar Mike, sir!" Dutch announced, signifying that he was on the move.

His passenger leaned over as they took a bend in the road.

"Where's the rest of your team, Trooper?"

Dutch shrugged. Scattered, dead, I don't know." Truth be told it wasn't at the top of his priority list, wondering where his squad was.

The Marine sighed. "That's too bad, we're going to need all the help we can get."

The convoy entered the second section and went uphill. As Dutch rounded the bend, he saw a Brute making a run for it.

"Warn the Chieftan! The enemy has breached o-" The Brute didn't get to finish as he was sucked under Taylor's 'hog.

"Shut up." Dutch simply said. He gasped and pulled on the wheel as he just avoided some Covenant Shade fire. He narrowly missed the Stationary Turret's plasma bolts.

"Hit it!" He ordered the gunner. After about 5 seconds of continuous fire, the Shade exploded in a shower of sparks. Fishtailing around, he managed to go head to head with a Ghost Rapid Assault Vehicle and made a hell of a fender-bender. The pilot was thrown free of the vehicle and flew about fifty feet before sliding another ten to his death.

"Click it or ticket, my friend!" Jules called spraying the Grunts as they ran for cover. Behind them, the rest of the convoy was barely keeping up. Dutch then went into a rivine of some sort.

"_Good work, Trooper! You're nearly at the objective!_"

"What _is_ the objective, Colonel?"

"_You know that Covenant Carrier the slipped away from the city? We need to secure it's old LZ,and snatch a Tier 1 asset. At least that's what ONI says._"

"What's the Tier 1?"

"_Hell I don't know. All the spook said on the other line was that it was 'classified'_."

"Yeah, that's ONI alright."

Dutch wheeled his hog across a rivine and came to a square. Ahead of him seemed to be the exit to the park. It was closed and the huge ammount of Covenant forces didn't seem willing to let them through.

"All hogs! Make for that building in the center!"

The vehicles altered their directions and went for the only standing building. When they got close, a ruby red flare shot from the roof.

"Looks like we found second platoon!" Jules said.

They pulled up and run up the stairs. A sergeant was taking potshots at approaching Covenant ground troops.

"Corporal Taylor Miles, sir!" Dutch said acknowledging rank.

The sergeant nearly jumped a full foot.

"_JEE-SUS CHRIST!_" He exclaimed. "Don't _do_ that!" The NCO took a deep breath. "ODST huh? We could sure use your help."

"What do you need, sir?"

"Those Wraiths just down there," the sergeant said pointing to the tanks shelling their position just east of the main entrance, "they're giving us a hard time. Can you do anything about them?"

"The hell I can!" Miles said unslinging the Spartan Laser from his back.

"W/AV M6? Sweet!" one of Second Platoon's marines commented.

"OK, take some fire off me guys!" Dutch requested as he took up another position. Second Platoon complied by giving Dutch some covering fire. Using this to his advantage, he sighted the Spartan Laser on one of the Wraiths. He thumbed the trigger and felt as the laser heated up. Three seconds later, a ruby beam of light sliced through the sky and the tank. It sputtered for a second and then exploded in a sapphire fireball. The other Wraith tried to run but Dutch didn't give it that chance. he slashed it with another particle beam and watched the pilot as it tried to douse the flames but died in the cockpit.

Horrified at this unholy heretic power, the Unggoy surrounding the now-destroyed Wraiths turned tail and ran. They were easy targets for Second Platoon's snipers.

"Area secured!" Jules reported

"Roger that!" The sergeant replied nodding. "We're clear to move!"

Dutch said, "We can give you a ride if you want."

The sergeant shook his head though. "No, we'll hump it the rest of the way...if we can count on you to clear it out ahead."

"Sir, yes sir!" Miles said. "Anyone from First Platoon, get back downstairs! We need to link up with the Colonel!"

Back in the hog, he turned to the Marine riding shotgun. "Where _is_ the Colonel exactly?"

"Near the Covenant LZ. We took care of the armor so we can roll across the bridge." He pointed just up ahead at a suspension bridge that led to yet another part of the zoo.

Just as Dutch and the convoy proceeded over the span, he heard a horrible, earthshaking sound of grinding metal that could be heard for dozens of miles. Looking into the sky, he saw the Mombasa Orbital Elevator tear in two. Like God Himself was plucking the wire from the earth, the teather sprang into the sky, carried away by the tension of the tether and the rotation of Earth.

That wasn't even the worst of it. The massive support rings which steadied the cable slid off the rapidly ascending tether and fell all over the city. One came so close that they even saw the dust from the impact. According to the Marines, this was _right_ where the objective was...

"_WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED_?" Dutch demanded.

"Must have been the rupture." Jules said breathlessly. "It weakened the support rings..."

Then, his COM crackled. There was plenty of static but a man's voice came through, but it was bad, real bad.

"_All units..._" The Colonel said. He coughed several times. "_...target assets are on the move. Everyone clear the area, before more...debris comes...down..._" He coughed a few more times before his voice trailed off.

"_Colonel? SIR!_ _Dammit, he's gone!_" The Marine over the radio ganed his composure back. "_Trooper, keep on heading up the hill! We need to get out of this park!_"

The LZ of the Assault Carrier was smaller than Dutch thought. He rounded the corner of a ridge and surveyed the area.

"_Watch it, they have Wraiths!_" One of the other hogs reported. "_They have a fix! Scatter!_"

A ball of plasma hit their area. Dutch's hog was thrown about. the Marine in shotgun was ejected. Dutch didn't see him land.

"Status!" He barked.

"_Lost Kwame! Sanje's gone too!_" the surviving jeep said. "_My transmission is shot! I'm gonna have to run for it!_"

"Good luck, Marine." Dutch turned his head and something caught his attention. A small flash, like a mirror was shining at him. He made a beeline while hundreds of voiced screamed for his blood. He lept over the small ridge and ditched the hog. He and Jules exited to see where they were. It seemed like it was a small, ramshackled hospital of some sort.

"Glad to see you guys." A Corpsman said. He was the one who flashed them with a piece of a rearview mirror.

"Are we safe here?"

"Reasonably. They think you've probably jumped over a cliff or something." The Corpsman redirected his eyes towards their bodies. "Marine, you're hit!"

Jules laughed and thought it was a joke, until he looked at his abdomen and saw that a large spike was wedged in his armor. The spell broke and suddenly he was hyperventilating. The Corpsman called another medic to help Jules.

"What the hell?" Dutch asked.

"It's common for people to overlook injuries when fighting only to see him later." The Navy medic said. "Don't be surprised Trooper, you're burned."

Dutch remembered his forearm and the burning returned.

_Ah, overlooking injuries. I see_.

"Just have a seat and I'll put some MediGel on it."

Dutch sat, relishing the soft ground beneath his ass.

"Best thing I've felt all morning." He joked.

While the Corpsman worked on his arm, he heard some sort of jabbering to his right. A Marine apparently snapped under combat. Dutch, and just about everyone else, had to stop and listen.

"...no, no, NO! You're not listening! It's a zoo, okay?"

The Medic who was with him shrugged and continued his scan.

"Well, technically it's a corporate-funded wildlife reserve."

The wounded man bit back, "_Semantics!_ This place is just one...big... _CAGE!_"

The Medic was definetely not in the mood for this. "Listen Marine, you're wounded. Just try to relax."

He just went right on. "Except...except, we're the _zebras_! All fenced in and ready for the _slaughter_!"

The Medic played along. "And the Covenant?"

"They're the lions! _RAAARRGH!_"

Dutch was amazed to find he was keeping a straight face at this.

"Careful, I think you just strained a metaphor..."

"Oh God! Oh God! Is that serious?"

"Well, only if you keep it up."

Dutch tapped the man's shoulder. "Is he gonna be alright, pal?"

"Eh, no worries. I'll just give him a double dose of Morphine. Maybe the extra chems will put him to sleep. Honestly, I'm tired with these blokes, snapping and talking about their mums or their cats..._honestly!_"

"...and done!" The Medic said rewrapping Dutch's forearm guard.

Taylor looked at his arm. A thick layer of gauze covered the spot where he was burned. He didn't even notice the work. "Nice job!" He said with the amazement clearly audible in his voice.

The Medic nodded in appreciation. "No problem, Trooper."

"What about Jules?"

The Medic sighed. "He went into catatonic shock. Hard to believe he didn't notice his injury."

"He'll be OK though, right?"

"Well, if that spike didn't sever any major arteries, I'm sure he'll be fine. As of right now, he's not in fighting condition."

Dutch then asked with a somber tone, "Did you manage to find the Colonel's body?"

"Well, what was left of it anyway." He said hooking a thumb over his shoulder to a bodybag. A silver eagle was spraypainted on the front.

Dutch cursed. "How many fighting personnel are there?"

"Besides us, nobody. You know those Marines in the convoy didn't make it?"

"You're serious. I'm basically the only one still able to fight?"

"In a nutshell. I mean, we can still shoot a gun if need be, but we're Navy."

_Fan_-frickin'-_tastic!_

"Alright. I need an opening. I have to secure that LZ."

"Uh...about that...we just recieved orders from ONI, _just_ before you dropped in! The whole mission went FUBAR when the Elevator collapsed. You need to get the hell out of here!"

"_How_?" Dutch asked.

"Find a hole, find a door, anything."

Dutch heard a small whine which suggested a Ghost patrol.

"Are you going to be alright here?" Dutch asked with some concern.

"We'll last as long as we can." The Navy Medic said. Even as Dutch heard this, he saw the look in the man's eyes.

"I can find a troop hog..."

"Forget it. Go. If we can find a way, we'll follow. These men need our help." The Corpsman snapped a salute. "Good luck, Trooper."

Miles hugged the ridge wall and looked for the Ghosts. He saw one speeding by, piloted by a Grunt. He plucked his M6 from his thigh and aimed it. Making a shot that would make Romeo bitch, he nailed the Grunt from the moving hovercraft. The vehicle slid to a halt.

Taylor pried the pilot from the seat and started up the machine. Dutch piloted a Ghost on Tribute. He pushed the colony out of his mind. That was behind him. Right now, he focused on getting out of the zoo.

He slammed the wings into a Brute Captain's back and chopped its head off. he also burned a squad of Unggoy as they cowered next to a large rock. he boosted over the landing pad and accelerated up the path.

Dutch saw some plasma bolts fly past his Ghost. He whipped the vehicle around and blasted another hovercraft as it tried to sneak up to him. The Ghost rammed into a rock wall and exploded.

"Take that you son of a bitch." Dutch said.

turning the alien vehicle, he went even further up the hill. A couple UAVs shot over his position and fired some ordinance intoan unseen position. As he cleared a turn, he saw two dead Wraiths. He breathed a sigh of relief. Boosting through while the rest of the Covenant were looking to the sky wondering what the hell hit them, Dutch ran over a Brute Chieftan. The intimidating Gravity Hammer arced over Taylor's head.

_Easier than I thought!_ he thought to himself.

"_Let no Human escape to speak of what they've seen_!" He heard a Brute bark. Looking ahead, he saw a sizable hole in the Reserve's walls. He boosted and felt the fire at his back as the Covenant shot...

He made it.

Then came the moment of free-fall as he plumetted over a hundred feet. He yelped as he was thrown free of the Ghost and rolled twice. His helmet flew off and then he was staring at the pavement.

He looked skyward.

"Augh! Lord? I didn't train to be a pilot! Tell me I don't have any more flying to do today."

He heard a rumble as a Wombat Drone corkscrewed into the Uplift Reserve statue of a cube. The drone was wedged in their tight. Dutch could have sworn he saw a component fly off of it.

Looking to heavan again, he said,

"So, was that a yes or a no?"

The Ghost behind him exploded and he slightly recoiled. Satisfied with this divine answer, he smiled.

"Amen."

Shaking his arms, he checked the load on his pistol and ran into the city. After running through a park full of Covenant, nothing could bring him down today.


	6. Chapter 6: The Flickering Streetlamp

Chapter 6: The Flickering Streetlamp

October 23rd, 2552, 2245 (Military Calendar)

Mbaraki Distict, New Mombasa

Kenya

The Rookie slowly set down the optics package. He could hardly believe that after six hours there would still be some juice left in it. He dropped it and heard the large crash. He gritted his teeth as he heard the noise.

_Probably not the smartest idea_.

He started to turn, but then he saw something, only it wasn't really a thing at all. Looking near the base of the Uplift Reserve statue, he saw a shimmer, something like a heat blur. Curiously, he looked it over.

The he remembered Cygnus. He remembered seeing many of these blurs before they uncloaked and revealed alien warriors. Stunned, he dropped his nearly empty pistol magazine and slapped in another. Just as he racked the slide, he heard a _snap_ and a _hiss_.

The blur drew an Energy Sword. It decloaked to reveal a gold-armored Sangheili warrior.

"Oh shit!" The Rookie swore. He fired off every single round he had. The bullets glanced off the Elite's shield. It laughed as it shrugged off the .50 caliber rounds.

"AH! Human!" The alien roared. "Heretic! Worm, scum of the galaxy! Come to _me_!"

The Rookie dropped the empty magazine and switched to the M7. The rounds splashed against the shield. He got lucky. It flickered and died. The Elite clutched its side and roared.

The ODST tripped over the optics package and fell to the ground. He had nowhere to go. The alien sensed this as he placed its hoove on the Rookie.

"Taste the fury of my Forefathers, you pitiful creature." It raised the blade o stab but it seems that its dogmatic ritual would be its downfall. He saw a beam cut through its head. The alien gasped and fell on him.

The Rookie could barely breathe with the Elite lying over him. He wanted to find out who had taken the shot, but a second later, he didn't need to ask.

"A fair shot, Kig-Yar." came a growl.

"His shield was depleated brother. He was an easy target." Another growl countered.

_Brutes! Not now! I'm trapped_. _They just shot their own ally! Something's wrong here._

The hiss of the Jackal was audible but no direct translation could be made.

"There cannot be much more in this city. I have killed many of the Sangheili this day."

"I would not chance it, brother. Are you not familiar with Sangheili lore? They are survivors as we are."

"Must I repeat this to you? Do _not_ compare us to those...those..." It sighed.

"I digress, I do not have words to describe them.

The Rookie heard a small tinkle. He saw that the hilt for the Energy Sword rolled away. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem but _he_ accidently knocked it off while adjusting the Sangheili's body to cover his own.

"What was that?" A Brute asked. "Don't just stand there, figure out what that _was_!"

Out of the corner of his helmet, he could see the feet of the Jackal approaching. He inhaled and held his breath.

_Please don't see me, please don't see me, there's nothing here, just _leave!

The Kig-Yar stood there for a moment, but chattered and turned.

"The scout says that the sword fell from its dead hands."

"Secure it! I want a trophy!"

The Jackal then bent down to pick up the sword hilt, and as it reached for it, he thought that it looked straight at him...

Down the street, a police siren started up. It wailed loudly, as if it was close.

"Come! Those damned creatures have snuck from behind us!" The senior Brute barked.

The Jackal thought then that it heard nothing at all and sprinted after its commanding officers.

The Rookie waited for ten whole seconds and then kicked the body off with all his might.

"Augh! Thank you!"

The Superintendant gave a happy fanfare.

"Did you start that siren? Very nice."

Another chirp came from the city.

"So where to now?"

Across the courtyard, he saw a light appear.

"_Please Cross-Walk. Share the Road!_"

_Yeah, I'll do that._

The next blip appeared Rather close by.

_Augh, look at this stuff. _he thought feeling his chestplate. It was covered with sticky purple blood of the Elite that fell on him. he let the blood stay though. No need to take unneccessary moves to wash it off.

It was darker than before. Even the VISR had limited range. He followed the Super's advice and went across the far street. It looked like a bomb hit this street. There were various pieces of the Space Elevator which littered the street. the Rookie glanced behind him, noticing the buring portion of the Earth anchor.

_How _did_ that thing fall?_

He pushed that thought out of his mind and carefully made his way through this ally. A single, flickering streetlamp stood near the road. It was the only source of light. It made the Rookie slightly nervous. What really did it was in the flickering light, he could have sworn he saw some enemy movement farther back. Otherwise, it was completely silent.

He gripped his M7. He reloaded it once he remembered that his magazine was dangerously low. He hid behind a car and accessed his TACMAP. The Courtyard was hexagonal, with his position near one of the lower edges. He saw three diamonds.

Now, despite the spooks putting some valuable time and effort into his armor's systems, he still couldn't differentiate between whether a diamond represented a squad or an individual alien.

It was time to find out. The Rookie saw a rock on the ground. Picking it up, he found that it was fairly heavy. He noticed a ground-level window. Hefting the rock, he tossed it into the window and it shattered with a loud crash.

He saw the diamonds move. The Rookie blended into the shadows, even depolarizing his helmet slightly so that whatever light there was wouldn't reflect off it. To his great relief, the diamond was revealed to be a lone Grunt. The Rookie snuck up behind the small alien as it investigated the crash and gave a bark as it inspected the glass.

Training took over. He slipped behind the alien and broke its neck. He dragged the body into the shadows and looked at his other targets. He saw out of the corner of his eye that there were just a few Kig-Yar looking for Humans. He targeted the one up high on the rooftop. He aimed his pistol at the alien and blew its head off. The second Jackal whipped around, scared, confused.

This was when the Rookie presented himself for a split second and then hid back in the darkness.

The Jackal shook. It was thuroughly freaked now. The Rookie timed the next flicker of the streetlight. It seemed to be erratic.

"Can you do something about the lights?" He whispered.

Before he finished the sentence, the light itself went out.

"_Please Remain Calm._"

The Jackal spun around, looking for a target, but even at this distance, the Rookie could see the alien sweat. Before it could react, he was on the move.

The Jackal saw him, but by then it was far too late.

The Human clotheslined the buzzard-like alien with his arm. He was on it then. Taking his combat knife, he stabbed it dead center in the chest.

_If you don't know where the heart is, always through the center_. Common UNSC advice.

The alien tried to scream, but the Rookie punched it in the face. It lay still. When he was convinced that it was dead, he pulled his knife from the body and wiped it.

"I'm done here." The Rookie said. "I don't need to hide the body."

The light came back on, and the Rookie left the alien he slaughtered behind, illuminated by this single, flickering streetlight.

"_Proceed with caution_."

The street up ahead was clear. Looking on his belt, he saw that he was dangerously low on Magnum rounds. He looked at the gun longingly, It was a powerful weapon. He couldn't afford to let it go. Making his choice, he stowed the weapon inside his backpack (after flipping the safety of course). and looked on the ground for something that could cause some damage.

The Rookie spotted an MA5C on the pavement. Checking the dead Marine that still clutched the gun, he found more than two hundred rounds of ammunition. He cocked the gun and brought it to hip height. The Rookie made a quick sweep of the street and satisfied that he could see no enemy, ditched his nearly wasted SMG for a blue tinged plasma rifle.

Plasma weapons were great at burning targets and ripping through energy shields. If he ran into any more of the Elites. He also took care to strip the Marine of his grenades. He wouldn't be needing them any more.

The Superintendant chimed in. The prompt the AI placed in the Rookie's helmet advised him to look at a viewscreen. The screen flashed on showing hundreds of people running, screaming, and knocking over anything in their way.

Police officers tried to get everyone to move in an orderly fashion, shouting out commands in Swahili. One officer brandished a riot shotgun but was knocked over by the wave of people.

The camera changed. This time it showed a harbor. Hundreds of boats were leaving the port bound for the safety of the sea. The camera panned and showed the gigantic Assault Carrier that was present when he dropped from the _Say My Name_.

Now the city was empty, dark. Barely anything was left inside and for all he knew, he was the last human left alive in this place.

This made him scared and twitchy, so he thought of something else.

"Was that the evacuation?"

"_Affirmative._"

"Why did you show this to me."

"_Prior Inquiry made at...2210_..._hours Local Time_."

_Oh right, I asked._

"How many made it out?"

"_Total Metopolitan population: 57 million. Confirmed Civilian Casualties: 3,713,916._"

It was a relatively low ammount of deaths. 3 million was still a lot though.

"Where are all the bodies?"

"_Keep it clean_."

The ODST gave a nearby garbage truck a nervous glance.

_Don't think about it, man._

He crossed a threshold into an identical section of the city, although the ambiance was much more profesional. He passed more luxury cars, saw shops that offered more higher quality goods, and there were some tall buildings here .

"Where am I?"

"_Location: Currently on Kwonala_ _Avenue, nearing Kizingo Boulevard and Shashami Plaza_."

The beacon was strong now. He was right next to a gigantic wall that looked thirty stories high.

"What's that?"

"_Attention! The Office of Naval Intelliegnce keeps a a presence in New Mombasa. Respect Private Property! Don't trespass!_"

_ONI...should have figured...wait a second..._

_"We're way off course!" Mickey had said_

_"We're heading right where I need to go" Dare responded_

_There was a building, a cube more like it, surrounded by a giant security wall, clearly made to keep people out..._

...and now he was standing right outside the damn thing. The Rookie quickly went for the beacon. If this was the case, his teammates, or their corpses might be inside this wall. The beacon could hold the clue.

He passed a landed SOEIV, the pod still smoking from the impact. It was on top of a building, but he needed to get past a Covenant patrol. He had no intention to fight this time and waited for the Brute to turn his back.

When the alien looked away, the Rookie sprinted for the open doorway, hoping the cracking of a blazing fire would mask his footsteps. He ran up a flight of stairs and came to a balcony. He saw a Gauss Turret perched on the ledge, broken, inoperable.

Just as well, he had no intention of using it. He came up to the mounted weapon and looked at it. Wires were cut, dents pocked the body of the Gauss cannon. Looking over the balcony and down the street, he saw broken and destroyed Scorpion tanks and Warthogs. The Rookie cocked his head curiously.

_Wow, must have been some push. _


End file.
